Summary

The novel opens in 1945 Austria, post-World War II. There is a woman reading the newspaper stories of all of the war criminals being placed on trial and sent to jail. The woman becomes introspective, telling herself that what she did was "humanity" and "mercy," and that "the victors would never understand that" (1). She decides that she needs to run and hide, or they will find her and kill her for what she has done. Then, there is a newspaper clipping that describes events that took place on the shore of Lake Rusalka in Poland years prior during the war. One night, a woman found six children who had escaped from what is presumed to be a concentration camp. She took them in, fed them, and then shot them all in cold blood. This woman was known as the Huntress, and she "vanished...